


Troubles

by silentexplorer18



Series: In Feeling There is Strength: The Tears Series [2]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Abusive Parents, Angst, Arguing, Best Friends, Betrayal, Crying, Emotional Hurt, Emotions, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Injury, Mild Language, Pain, Southside Serpents Gang - Freeform, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-23 06:56:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23007538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silentexplorer18/pseuds/silentexplorer18
Summary: You let out your emotions in the woods, crying until the tears dry up, but returning home doesn't make things any easier, especially when you're holding a (rather petty) grudge against Jughead.  Thankfully, though, he's not the only one that offers you a helping hand.
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, Jughead Jones & Reader, Toni Topaz & Reader
Series: In Feeling There is Strength: The Tears Series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1653502
Kudos: 18





	Troubles

**Author's Note:**

> This is a part 2 to my series _In Feeling There Is Strength: The Tears Series_. You do not have to read any of the other parts if you don't want to, but they may help explain some of what happens before and after this point, so feel free to check them out if you'd like!

The forest provided you silence and mercy, allowing you to cry, to  _ feel _ without being forced to explain or understand why. With the foliage looming above you, cascading against your shoulders with every step, you were provided more comfort than you’d ever been given before.

World be damned, you’d rather be alone. It was safer alone without people capable of destroying you with a few words or actions. Vulnerability was dangerous. The rest of your family had succumbed to it. Your dad had been skinned with pride and lust, an unfortunate ego; your mom was drowning in destroyed trust from dad’s affair; your sister had been a slave to the concept of friends, lost herself attempting to appease others; and your brother had confided in his friends, been lured into an escape route he could never be claimed from. You were the only sane one left. And, let’s face it, sane is overshooting it a bit when your only confidants were the trunks of ancient trees that neither cared nor responded.

But there you could  _ feel _ . Alone, unloved, unwanted, and no longer needed, you had nothing better to do than drown in the air whistling through the leaves and be cradled by the weeds snaking up your ankles. It’s the closest you would get to an embrace nowadays.

Jughead was dating Betty.

Jughead had made love to Betty.

You were  _ nothing  _ in comparison to that.

All the moments you’d tried to give him weren’t enough to mean anything.

And you were on the ground, head in your knees, fingers scratching into the cold, hard earth as sobs wracked your snot-slicked lips.

It was hard to breathe. It was hard to think. Everything was suffocating.

You could’ve screamed in pain if your lungs had breath, but it was stolen from your lips like a sucker from a child. All you could do was hide and hope that your heart would stop hurting, that your tears would stop falling, that nature would pick you up and carry you forward.

And, eventually, it did.

The snot stopped, reduced to sniffling, and you wiped your nose across your sleeve in an attempt to clean some of the mess from your face. Thankfully, only the evening darkness could see your disheveled appearance.

The forest let you feel when things became too much to carry on your own. It took some of your burden on its swaying branches and sang you comfort with the rustling foliage. You avoided straying too far, wary of the all-encompassing darkness that could swallow you whole, but the thrill of the deep woods was enticing.

Running your fingertips on the edge of the nearest tree, you reveled in the texture of the bark. It kept your mind grounded, rough and captivating, and kept any additional tears at bay.

You wouldn’t cry in front of anyone. You couldn’t.

You need to be strong, keep your chin up. Relying on other people would only get you into more problems.

As darkness fell, you couldn’t be sure how long you’d been out wandering the woods. That didn’t matter, though. Nobody would wait up for you. Nobody  _ needed  _ you. Going home just meant having somewhere to be during the night. It just ensured you had a roof over your head until you could race off to school in the morning. Most afternoons you spent working at the library shelving books. Hopefully work tomorrow would give you a little reprieve from your thoughts. Until then, it was time to go home, time to rest and attempt to silence your screaming mind.

You made your way back to the edge of the rickety fence, stealing a breath before stepping back inside the enclosure of your childhood. Usually you were greeted with relative quiet after a walk in the woods, returning late at night when most people had settled to their homes or were off spending late nights in the town.

However, that isn’t what greeted you tonight.

Red flashed across the walls of the nearest trailers, skittering across the fence and brushing the grass with crimson.

It was an ambulance.

And it was in front of your house.

Racing across the lawn, you stopped at the ambulance right as they were preparing to lift a gurney up into it.

“Oh my God, what happened?” you asked, breathless.

It was your mother.

The medic gave you a tight smile. “Looks like she hit her head pretty hard on something when she fell. Her husband said she fainted, fell on the rack of kitchen knives.”

“Will she… is she gonna be okay?”

You didn’t miss the hint of a grimace that flashed across his face. “She isn’t in good condition. We’re rushing her to the hospital right now.”

“Okay,” you nodded, hands numb and body rigid with shock as you watched them finish loading her into the back of the vehicle. They sped off a few moments later.

The cars were gone. That was the next thing you noticed. Your brother must have found the keys and left. Your father must have done the same not long after mom got hurt. He wasn’t fond of being accountable for his actions, to say the least.

“Fuck,” you mumbled, rubbing your face and turning toward your porch.

That’s when you noticed him. Jughead. He was sitting on the steps waiting, corner of his sleeve stained red.

You froze. “Jug?”

“Hey,” he mumbled. “Took you awhile to come back.”

You glanced up at the house, stomach lurching with the sight of blood on the porch. “What happened?”

“I think you know.”

He was right. You were a smart girl, intuitive. You  _ knew _ .

He stood, Serpent jacket rustling with his movement.  _ When had he gotten that? _ “The police came with the ambulance. They said to leave the house alone for now. It’s a crime scene.”

You nodded. Numb. Everything was numb.

Going to the hospital wasn’t an option tonight; the walk was too far and too unsafe in the dark for you to even consider attempting it. You had no clothes, nowhere to go, no one to call, and nothing left to keep you safe. Sleeping in the woods wasn’t an option. You’d surely freeze to death before the night was up. The Wyrm may have been an option. It was warm, and surely the Serpents would let you stay for at least a little. Even if you weren’t part of the family, they extended you good grace for all the things you’d done for FP Jones over the years. They’d utilized your cooking skills on many occasions over the years, especially when there was a snake or two running a little low for the month. You’d been a helper, and in a place like The Southside, that meant helping gang-leader neighbors.

“Thanks for calling,” you mumbled, turning and starting up the gravel road toward the entrance of the trailer park. The rocks crunched beneath your worn out shoes, but it didn't really matter. The sound was something to focus on other than your whirling thoughts. There were stars at the corner of your vision, anxious and white-hot, but you wouldn’t succumb to them, not now. Jughead couldn’t see you breaking, broken. Crying in the bathroom of the Wyrm would be acceptable, but not here.

“Where do you think you’re going?” a voice called behind you. Jughead.

“The Wyrm.”

He grimaced. “No. Come on, you’re staying in my trailer.” He took a step down the path to his home, watching for you to follow him.

_ Yes _ . That’s what you needed. That’s what you deserved. But could you want it? “I’d hate to take space away from you and Betty.” Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to freeze outside. Your chest felt tight at the thought of occupying the space he’d been sharing with Betty mere hours prior. You weren’t ready for that. It was too much all at once.

Groaning, he approached you. “I’m not expecting you to be happy for me.”  _ Ouch _ . “But let me do this for you. You need help.”

“I don't need help. Everything’s fine.” You took a breath, just the slightest bit uneasy. “I just need a little time to get back on my feet.”

You didn’t let him say anything else.

* * *

The Wyrm was loud and crowded, but you’d been welcomed with open arms. Extended family, they said, a friend of FP is a friend of the Serpents. It’s not like you’d interrupted a meeting anyway.

You’d wiggled into a corner table, sitting off to yourself away from the hubbub and staring down at the ice slowly melting in your water. Toni’d given you the most sympathetic of smiles when she couldn’t offer you a shot of bourbon or whiskey to quell the pain in your chest. Hell, you would’ve taken just about anything if it meant being able to forget; being inebriated in public was something you weren’t willing to risk, though, so you focused on your water instead, trying to drown out your thoughts.

Fangs and Sweet Pea were playing pool on the other side of the room, but you barely paid them attention, fingers tracing patterns into the condensation on your cup instead. They recognized you, of course, but kept their distance. You clearly weren’t in the mood for company.

It wasn’t until another two hours later when the bar had lost most of its patrons when Toni and the boys sauntered up toward you.

“What are you doing here so late?” Toni asked, pushing you a fresh glass of water.

“Oh,” you hummed, face clouded, reserved. “I didn’t have anywhere else to go tonight.”

Fangs slid into the chair beside you. “What do you mean? Parents lock you out?”

“My mom,” you cleared your throat, “ _ fell _ today when I was out of the house. Don’t know where everybody else went, but I can’t get in. Cops say it’s a crime scene.”

Toni nodded. She knew what that meant. They all knew. “So what’s the plan?”

You shrugged, taking another sip from your glass.

“I’d offer you my place, but we’re all full up with my aunt in town.” Toni shot you a sympathetic glance. Of course, you hadn’t exactly run upon bad luck at a convenient time.

“I have a couch if you want it,” Sweet Pea offered, smile surprisingly genuine.

“Really? You’d do that?” you asked, unable to stop the surprise in your voice.

They chuckled. “You may not be a Serpent, but you’ve been with us for a while. I think you’ve earned a little help when you need it.”

“Thank you.”

He shrugged, acting as though it wasn’t a big deal. “No problem. You ready to go?”

“Uh, sure.”

Sweet Pea’s bike was kind of intimidating, but you adjusted pretty quickly, and it wasn’t long before you were laying on his couch in one of his too-big tee shirts thinking about everything that had transpired in only a few short hours. But, regardless of all your questions and uncertainties, a phrase from your memory swirled through your head.

_ No Serpent stands alone. _

Maybe you  _ did  _ have a direction to go in.

Sweet Pea checked on you one last time before disappearing to his bedroom. “You gonna be okay?”

“Yeah,” you smiled. “I think I  _ will  _ be.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed! You can also find me over on [Tumblr](https://silentexplorer18.tumblr.com/).


End file.
